Garment hangers



J. JORDAN GARMENT HANGERS Nov. 11, 1958 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Feb. 5, 1956 16 2a as 31 -fi INVENTOR. JORDAN fiOHN BY m.\ sm: 1

ATTORN EYS Nov. 11, 1958 J. JORDAN 2,859,902

' GARMENT HANGERS FiiLed Feb. 5, 1956 I 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 ZZLF JJ fi INVENTOR.

F JOHN JORDAN ATTORNEY 5 United States Patent i GARMENT HANGERS John Jordan, Portland, Oreg.

Application February 3', 1956, Serial No. 563,317

Claims. (Cl. 223-63) This invention relates to garment hangers and is particularly adapted for the hanging of trousers, skirts, and the like.

The primary object of this invention is to provide a hanger that can be adjusted to fit within each leg ofa pair of trousers tightly and. independently. In the carrying out of this object, this new and improved hanger expands within the cuff of trousers under automatic ten sion and is adapted to be placed in the trousers or leg, or removed therefrom by a compression applied by the operator, and further each leg of the garment receives a separate set of prongs separately expanded-soas to assure accurate fitting in each leg of thetrousers.

A further object of the invention is to provide a hanger having auxiliary prongs to adapt the hanger to various widths of garments, as for instance skirts and the like- A still further object of the invention is to provide a hanger having means associated therewith for applying steam 'to the garment when thevhanger is being used as a spreader during the steaming of the garments.

Other objects and advantages will become apparent in the following specification when considered in the light of the attached drawings, in Which:

Figure 1 is. a front elevation of this new and improved garment hanger, having a fragmentary portion of a pair of pantslegs being supported thereby, parts broken away and in section for convenience of illustration. j

Figure 2 is a side elevation of the hanger illustrated in Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a front elevation 'of' the hanger having auxiliary prongs attached'thereto for the supporting of a garment of wider width, as for instance a skirt;

Figure'4- is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view, taken on the line 4.4 of Figure 1, looking in the direction indicated.

Figure 5 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view, taken on the line 55 of Figure 1, looking in the direction indicated. V

Figure 6 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view, taken on the line' 66- of Figure 3', looking in the direction-indicated, illustrating how the supporting prongs are secured to an-adapter.

' Figure 7 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional View, taken on the line 77 of Figure 3, looking in the direction indicated, illustrating how an adapter is adjustably secured to one of the supporting prongs of the hanger.

Figure 8 is a side elevation partially broken away and in section which illustrates the hanger being used with extension prongs associated therewith for spreading and steaming sleeves of garments and the like.

Figure 9 is an enlarged sectional view, taken on the line 99 of Figure 8, looking in the direction indicated, illustrating how the extension prong is secured to the primary prong of the hanger.

Figure 10 is a fragmentary side view of the extension prong illustrated in Figure 8.

Figure 11 is a sectional view, taken on the line 11-11 2,859,902 Patented Nov. 11, 1958 2 r of Figure 8, looking in the direction indicated, illustrating a hollow type ofprong adapted to receive and discharge steam therefrom.

Figure 12 is a sectional view of the extension prong, illustrating its cross section, taken on the line 12-12 of Figure 8 ,[looking in the direction indicated.

Figure 13 is a fragmentary side elevation partially i section illustrating how the extension prongs are adapted to the primary prongs of the hanger, taken on the line 13-13 of Figure 8, looking in the direction indicated.

Referring now to the drawings in detail wherein like reference numeralsindicatelike parts throughout the several figures, the reference numeral 15 indicatesa body member forming part. of my hanger along with body members 16 and 17. The body members 15, 16 and 17 are assembled together by the spaced bars 18 in the following manner. These bars 18 have an upwardly extending operating handle 19 formed integral therewith, referring particularly to Figure l. The body member 15 is slidably mounted upon ends 20 of the bars 18. The ends 20 of the bars 18 are connected together by a cross pin 21, which is adapted to receive an end 22 of a spring 23.

The opposite end of the spring 23 is connected to a cross pin 24 forming part of the body member 15. This spring 23 tends to move the body member 15 towards the outer ends 20 of the bars 18 at all times.

Referring to Figure 2, the body member 17 is fixedly secured to flanges 26 of the bars 18 by the return bends or loops 27, which form part of the body member 17. The return bends 27 are preferably welded to the flanges 26 at 26A. The body member 16. is slidably mounted on the flanges 26 of the bars 18 by the return bends or loops 27 embracing the flanges 26.

Referring to Figure 1, spring 28 has one of its ends fixedly secured to a cross pin 30 forming part of the ends 25 of the bars 18 while its opposite end is connected to the cross pin 31, which forms part of the movable body member 16. This spring tends to pull the body member 16 towards the outer ends 25 of the bars 18 at all times. An operating handle 33 is formed integral with the body member 15, as best illustrated in Figures 1 and 4.

Garment holding prongs 34 and 35 are slidably mounted to the body members 15, 16 and 17, referring particularly to Figure 2. The prongs 34 consist of one piece of metal 36, having guideways 37 and 38 adapted to engage the upper and lower edges of the body members 15, 16 and 17-.' The prongs 35 are of two pieces, 39 and 4t), hinged together at 41. These prongs 35 are mounted to the body members 15 and 16 in the same manner that the prongs 34 are slidably mounted thereto. The purpose of this hinged prong 35 will be later described.-

The hanger may be supported on anyconventional wire hanger 42,'referring to Figures 2 and 3 particularly. Bales 43'are secured to the ends 20 and 25 of the bars 18, as best illustrated in Figures 1 and 2. Hooks 44 are provided on the upper end of these bales 43 to engage a cross bar 45 of the hanger 42.

In the case of wire hangers 42 as illustrated, the hanger bar 45 bypasses the handles 19 and 33 as illustrated in the drawings, but in the event a wooden hanger is used the bar 45 of the wood hanger passes through the openings 19A of the handles 19 and 33, because in the case of wood hangers the bar 45 is hingedly secured to the hanger 42 and is not of a flexible nature.

Referring to Figure 1, as shown in broken lines, 'a steam nozzle 46 may be secured to the handle 19, or in fact any other suitable location on the hanger so as to direct steam down between the legs of trousers or within garments for the steaming of the garments.

Referring to Figure 3, auxiliary or additional prongs 47 are provided for hanging garments of greater width. An adapter bar 48 is slidably mounted to the prongs 34 and 35in the manner illustrated in Figure s 6 and 7. Referring to Figure 8, extension prongs 49 and 50 may be slidably secured to the prongs 34 and 35, as further illustrated in Figures 9 and 11 by guideways 51 and 52, with sufiicient friction to hold the prongs 34 and 35 together but yet permit the removal of the same from one another.

The prong 49 consists of a tubular body member 53 adapted to disperse steam through the openings 54 formed therein. A steam supply pipe line 55 is connected to the member 53 to feed steam thereto. 7 The prong 50 maybe of solid cross section, as illustrated particularly in Figures 8, 9 and 12. These prongs 50 are particularly adapted for supporting sleeves during the steaming of sleeves in garments. One of the prongs, as for instance prong 50, may be of two parts hinged together by the hinge 56 and held extended by the spring 57. This permits self-adjustment of the prongs 50 in regards to the sleeves bein steamed.

The operation of this new and improved garment hanger is as follows. Where trousers are to be hung or supported the operator compresses within his hand the handles 19 and 33. This brings the body members 15, 16 and 17 towards one another, together with the prongs 34 and 35 against the tension of the spring 23. As stated above spring 23 is anchored to the outer end of the bars 18 and to the cross pin 24 of the body member 15.

When the operator releases the handles 19 and 33, the spring 23 will separate the body 15 from the bodies 16 and 17 and thus separate the prongs 34 and 35. The body member 17 is fixedly secured to the bars 18, and the body member 16 is slidably supported on bars 18, the prongs 34 and 35 will adjust themselves to fit various Widths of legs of trousers or garments, particularly in trousers where there may be a difference in widths of the legs or cuffs.

In the case of hanging 'a garment wider than trouser legs, such as a skirt, adapters 48 and the prongs 47 are attached to the prongs 34 and 35 and adjusted roughly to the width of the garment. The operator then compresses together the handles 19 and 33 bringing the prongs 47 towards one another while placing them within the garment, after which the operator releases the handles 19 and 33 and the spring 23 above described will again spread apart the body members 15 and 16, together with the prongs 47 within the garment.

Where the guideways 37 and 38 of the prongs 34 and 35 engage the upper and lower edges of the body members 15, 16 and 17 they will engage the same relatively tight so that when a pull is exerted on the prongs 34, 35 they will cam lock themselves by a binding action in the desired location. This also applies to the adapter 48 and the prongs 47.

Referring to Figures 8, 9 and 11, the guideways 51 and 52 are slipped over either the ends of the prongs 34 or 35 and the prongs 34 and 35 adjusted apart along the body members and 17, as above described in the other instances. The purpose of hinging the prongs is to be able to turn them up to the broken line position shown in Figure 2 while applying the garment to the prongs 34 or for handling convenience in the steaming operation.

Having thus described the preferred embodiment of the invention, it should be understood that numerous modifications and structural adaptations may be resorted to without departing from the scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is: I

1. A garment hanger attachment comprising a pair of i spaced horizontal parallelframe bars, means on opposite ends of said bars for suspending said bars from a garment hanger, a handle secured tosaid frame bars and extending upwardly therefrom, a body member slidably carried by one end portion of said frame bars, means resiliently urging said body member outwardly toward the end of said frame bars carrying said body member, a handle secured to said member and extending upwardly therefrom in substantially parallel adjacent relation to said first named handle, a second body member slidably carried by the opposite end portion of said frame bars, means resiliently urging said second body member away from said first body member, a third body member fixed to said frame bars at the ends thereof carrying said second frame bars, a garment engaging member depending from each of said second and third body members, and a pair of garment engaging members depending from said first body member torespectively cooperate with the garment engaging members on said second and third body members.

2. A device as claimed in claim 1 wherein one of said A garment engaging members on said first body member and said garment engaging member on said second body member each comprise upper and lower portions pivotally secured together to facilitate the entry of said members into the garment to be supported.

3. A device as claimed in claim 1 wherein at least one of said garment engaging members is formed hollow and perforated having connected thereto a steam supply line whereby said garment may be steamed while being supported thereby.

4. A device as claimed in claim 1 wherein said frame bars comprise a pair of vertically spaced channel members having their respective opposite flanges aligned and extending oppositely.

5. A garment hanger as claimed in claim 1 wherein said garment engaging members are each horizontally slidably adjustable with relation to said body members.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,183,772 Rosenbloom May 16, 1916 1,421,003 Hartzell et June 27, 1922 1,596,403 Chidley Aug. 17, 1926 1,605,184 Heddens Nov. 2, .1926 1,780,153 Francsics Nov. 4, 1930 2,732,982 Leonard Ian. 31, 1956 

